Speech Therapy Evaluation | Her Speech At 3.5 Years Old

Today I’m giving an update on my daughter’s speech therapy evaluation. She’s been in therapy for a year and 5 months after we discovered that she wasn’t talking. This journey through speech therapy began when she started talking with a closed mouth. The only way she felt comfortable speaking.

A couple of years ago is when we came to the realization that my daughter was having difficulties with her speech development. It was so odd. She had this regular habit of talking with her mouth closed. Whenever she wanted to respond to a question or speak, she would try to say what she wanted and if it didn’t come out as intended, she would revert to speaking with her mouth closed.

It was very frustrating for us to try to figure out what she wanted. I know it was even more stressful for her. It really hurt my heart to see my baby struggling and I felt helpless like there wasn’t anything I could do to fix it.

My daughter’s speech issues were creating a lot of other issues too. Like arguments over how to handle it. Disagreements over what methods to use. A lot of stress trying to do research to see why she was talking with her mouth closed.

Once we figured out how we were going to address it and came up with a plan, it started to set our minds at ease. I was a lot less stressed out about it and I felt empowered to now be able to do something to help my little girl.

Speech Therapy Evaluation – 1 Year Mark

She’s been in speech therapy for a year and 4 months. She had her 1-year speech therapy evaluation, which went really well. Her vocabulary has increased like crazy. She’s much more confident about expressing herself. Now my daughter no longer talks with her mouth closed. In fact, she hasn’t done that since about 4 months into therapy.

It took a while for her to build the muscles to create the sounds she needed to form most words. But now the majority of her vocabulary is fully understandable and clear to those around her. She still struggles a little with the sounds at the beginning of some of her words. P’s, S’s, H’s, M’s, CH and a few other sounds. But she never lets any of that stop her.

I even notice her training herself on how to correctly pronounce words when she’s alone in her room. There have been so many instances where I can hear her repeating words or phrases that she hears on her PBS shows.

Or I’ll catch her having conversations with her dolls and stuffed animals. These moments are always hilarious and adorable but I also get excited when I hear her take her time and sound out difficult parts of a word to her toys. Or she’ll hone in on a certain sound that she’s struggling with and try to emulate how her favorite character says it.

Founder, Editor-in-Chief of Women's Lifestyle Blog, Naturally Stellar | Beauty Writer and Content Creator | I left corporate life 7+ years ago, to pursue my goal of becoming a writer. Boom!! I did that! Now I'm an accomplished writer and boss babe running a successful blog business. You should hire me! #RockStarMoms